Asm. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

Existing law establishes various programs intended to promote the development of affordable housing, including the Multifamily Housing Program, under which the Department of Housing and Community Development provides financial assistance in the form of deferred payment loans to pay for the eligible costs of certain housing development activities. This bill would require the department to establish and administer the Affordable Disaster Housing Revolving Development and Acquisition Program to fund the predevelopment expenses, acquisition, construction, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of property to develop or preserve affordable housing in the state's declared disaster areas that have experienced damage and loss of homes occupied by or affecting lower income households. The bill would require the department to establish an application process for community development financial institutions, as defined, to apply for emergency short-term or temporary loans under the program. This bill would require community development financial institutions receiving awards through the program to issue short-term loans to nonprofit housing development corporations, tribally designated housing entities, and local government agencies to fund the cost of developing dwelling units and transitional housing, childcare, after school care, and social service facilities that are integrally linked to the dwelling units, as specified. The bill would authorize certain cost categories related to the development of dwelling units, including the acquisition of real property, new construction or rehabilitation, general property improvements that are necessary to correct unsafe, unhealthy, or unsanitary conditions, and necessary and related onsite and offsite improvements.

Existing law requires the Controller to provide reimbursement to counties for the costs of complying with certain voter registration requirements. This bill would instead make the Secretary of State responsible for reimbursing counties for that purpose. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to adopt regulations requiring each county to design and implement programs intended to identify qualified electors who are not registered to vote and to register those persons to vote. This bill would also require the Secretary of State to adopt guidance for counties to design and implement civic engagement programs for high school students. The bill would authorize the Secretary of State to design a voter registration or civic engagement program for a county that does not implement or apply for funding for its own programs. The bill would require the Secretary of State to provide grants to county elections officials or other specified entities for voter registration efforts in counties where voter registration is less than 80% of eligible voters. The bill would require the Secretary of State to make grants to county registrars of voters for programs that integrate voter registration and preregistration with civic education for high school students, including programs to allow students to serve as election workers, as provided. The bill would require a student election worker to be assigned election worker responsibilities on election day or otherwise only after school hours or on weekends and would require a student election worker to receive a stipend for their work as well as credit toward a specified diploma seal recognizing student excellence in civics education and participation. The bill would also require the Secretary of State, on or before April 1, 2023, to contract with specified counties to conduct mock elections at high schools and voter registration and preregistration opportunities for eligible students. The bill would establish the Civic Learning, Outreach, and Engagement Fund in the General Fund and would make the moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the grants and contracts provided for in the bill. The bill would transfer $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the Civic Learning, Outreach, and Engagement Fund and would appropriate those moneys for purposes of the bill.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes the establishment of community college districts under the administration of community college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at community college campuses throughout the state. Existing law authorizes these districts to establish compensation levels for academic employees, as provided. Existing law requires community college districts, as a condition of receiving funding allocated for the Student Success and Support Program, to negotiate in good faith with the exclusive representatives for part-time, temporary faculty, the terms of reemployment preference for part-time, temporary faculty assignments based on minimum standards up to the range of 60% to 67% of a full-time equivalent load and a regular evaluation process for part-time, temporary faculty, as specified. Existing law establishes procedures for community college districts to demonstrate compliance with these requirements. This bill would require persons who are employed to teach adult or community college classes part time, as provided, to receive compensation in at least an amount that bears the same ratio to the amount provided to full-time employees as the time actually served by those part-time employees bears to the time actually served by full-time employees with comparable duties. The bill would impose this pay requirement upon the expiration or renewal of existing collective bargaining agreements, as provided. This bill would also require community college districts, as a condition of receiving funds allocated for the Student Success and Support Program in the annual Budget Act, to commence the negotiation of terms of compensation consistent with the proportional pay requirement for part-time employees, as well as terms governing reemployment preferences and evaluation processes, no later than the expiration of any negotiated agreement in effect on January 1, 2023, and for any community college district that does not have a collective bargaining agreement in effect as of January 1, 2023, upon the effective date of the bill.

Existing law establishes within state government the Department of Food and Agriculture in order to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law provides for the regulation of weeds and pest seeds generally. This bill would establish the Broomrape Control Board within the Department of Food and Agriculture to advise the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and make recommendations on all matters relating to Broomrape, as specified. The bill would require the secretary to appoint at least 12 members to the board, consisting of at least 3 representatives from each specified geographical district and that are persons recommended by the tomato industry and approved by the secretary. The bill would authorize the secretary to appoint a public member and ex officio nonvoting members to the board, as specified. The bill would require the board to recommend specified actions to the secretary, including, among other things, conducting research related to Broomrape, surveying, detecting, analyzing, and treating causes of Broomrape, and establishing an annual assessment rate or schedule of rates to be paid equally by producers and handlers. The bill would require the secretary, upon receipt of a recommendation from the board for the adoption of regulations, to accept, reject, or request that the board provide additional information within 30 working days. The bill would authorize the secretary to adjust the assessment rate or schedule of rates from time to time when recommended by the board and would require the assessments collected from producers to be paid by handlers to the secretary. The bill would provide that any assessment that is imposed on the producer or handler is a personal debt of the person assessed and would require the payment of a specified penalty if the assessment is not paid. The bill would require any funds received by the secretary pursuant to the above provision and from other sources to benefit the Broomrape Control Program to be deposited in an account specified by the board to be expended for the purposes, administration, and enforcement of the program. The bill would require the above provisions to become inoperative on December 31, 2027, unless a later enacted statute extends the date on which it becomes inoperative. Upon termination, the bill would require any remaining funds received pursuant to the above provisions to be refunded on a pro rata basis to all persons from whom assessments were collected during the 12-month period before the inoperative date, unless the secretary finds the amounts returnable are minimal and therefore impractical to refund, or the person who paid the assessment cannot be located, in which case the funds may be used for Broomrape control or related research activities.

Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture, under the control of the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law authorizes the department to expend in accordance with law all money that is made available for its use. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the Budget Act of 2022, to provide funding for research to investigate accurate measurement of smoke compounds in winegrapes and wine, methods to mitigate the damage to winegrapes and wine that can occur from exposure to smoke, and methods to prevent smoke damage to winegrapes and wine. The bill would require the department to establish an advisory committee of specified members appointed by the secretary to provide recommendations to the secretary for funding research proposals submitted to the department under these provisions. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on January 1, 2028, or when all funds appropriated by the Legislature pursuant to the Budget Act of 2022 for these provisions have been disbursed, whichever is later.

Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. This bill would require the department to establish and convene the Blue Ribbon Commission on Port Congestion and Supply Chain Deficiencies, with the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to serve as the chair and to appoint the other members of the commission. The bill would require the commission to recommend changes needed in the immediate and long-term future to mitigate the negative impacts of port congestion and supply chain deficiencies on agricultural commodities. The bill would require the commission to submit, on or before January 1, 2023, a report to the Legislature documenting its recommendations. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would respectfully memorialize the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States to take action to restore honor to Bernard B. James, and to take the necessary actions to ensure the treatment of Bernard B. James is rectified by a full exoneration, including having the military record of Bernard B. James cleared of any court judgment and less-than-honorable discharge.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate Highway Route 405 in the County of Los Angeles as the Officer Tommy Scott Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.